Henri Zoghaib is the author of several books of poetry and prose, including Rhythms, For I Am the Sanctuary and You the Goddess, and In Forbidden Time. He has served as an adviser to the president of Lebanon on cultural affairs and is the founder of the poetry magazine L'Odyssee. Adnan Haydar is professor of Arabic and comparative literature at the University of Arkansas. He has authored, edited, and translated several books, including Jabra Ibrahim Jabra's al-Safina, co-translated with Roger Allen. Michael Beard is professor of English and comparative literature at the University of North Dakota. He is author of numerous books, including Hedayat's ""Blind Owl"" as a Western Novel. Rouba Saba Habib is a Lebanese poet and senior lecturer at the Lebanese University of Beirut. Ursula Assaf-Nowak is professor of German literature at the Goethe Institute in Beirut, Lebanon. She is the author of Arabische Marchen.